Healthy Pictou County looking to attract health-care workers with VR

PICTOU, N.S. - Healthy Pictou County is partnering with 360Lab to help create virtual reality videos to showcase Pictou County to health-care professionals.

Healthy Pictou County was recently granted $2 million in funding through the Office of Healthcare Professionals Recruitment Community Fund to promote recruitment and retention initiatives in the region.

The company has been hired to create virtual reality content, which will showcase a variety of locations in Pictou County, including medical facilities and equipment.

The videos will highlight the natural beauty and community assets that make the region has to attract physicians and their families to consider Pictou County as a new place to live and work.

“The virtual reality content we create can be seen on VR headsets, which gives the viewer a sense of being immersed in the scene,” said 360Lab CEO Lydia Sayeau.

“For example, a doctor in Japan can feel like they are standing on Melmerby Beach, or the family of a physician in the U.K. can see the local schools and parks.

This will help them to have a better sense of the community and what to expect if they chose to move here," Sayeau added.

Healthy Pictou County was one of the 28 groups across the province that applied for and received funding from the fund.